Hearne: Whatever Happened to Former TV 9 Weather Dude Joel Nichols?

Not to be confused with a meteorologist. Times have changed and the days when sappy, fun-loving weathermen and comely, buxom weather babes could plight their troughs in the the wide world of TV weather. These days it’s an Olympic sport and if you don’t have the science chops, odds are you’re not gonna make it in a major market – not even one as small as Kansas City.

So it is that longtime Channel 9 cloud kicker Joel Nichols has been missing in action on the local TV weather front for coming up on three months. Somewhat obviously he’s not been snapped up by the competition at Channels 4,5 or 41. Still inquiring minds want to know the what, where, when and whyfors of the affable Nichols future career aspirations.

Which brings us to an email from a KCC reader who thinks Nichols may have gotten on full time at Johnson Country Community College.Not so fast.

Calls to the college confirm that Nichols is indeed still on their roster, but as some of you may know, he was an only adjunct professor there teaching media and communications.

The term “adjunct professor” being something of a slippery slope in many instances for people in a given field who manage to convince a college to let them teach a course in their given field.

Take former PR dude and area gossip media hound John Landsberg.

So what is an adjunct professor?

According to the website WiseGeek it’s “a part-time professor who is hired on a contractual basis rather than being given tenure and a permanent position. Many universities hire large numbers of adjunct faculty members because they are flexible and cheaper to maintain than traditional full-time faculty members.”

Attempts to reach Nichols at JUCO were unsuccessful. And no word yet from the school as to whether he has or may be in the process of joining them in a full time position. And no news is no news among the local TV news insiders I contacted.

Meanwhile, back at the Channel 9 Weatherman Joel NicholsFacebook page – which by the way is still alive and kicking despite his departure from the station months ago – the odd Nichols groupie continues to check in despite no posted responses from the man himself.

However the odds of Nichols making it as an adjunct professor appear slim.

As evidenced by a Huff Poststory entitled, 9 Reasons Why Being An Adjunct Faculty Member Is Terrible.

“It’s hard out there for an adjunct,” it begins. “Adjuncts typically earn between $20,000 and $25,000 annually NPR reports. Compare that to the average salary of $84,303 for full-time instructors and professors, according to the American Association of University Professors.”

Add to that, no job security, lousy hours and scheduling, little to no say in “faculty governance” and few if any health insurance options.

Hey but if you already have a paycheck, at least it sounds prestigious.

power and light is onfire hearne…and you’re writing about some 65 yearold
weatherman…
this is why you need Harley on staff asap to get the real stories..
hearne…wheres the fire in the belly to get the good stories…
you’ve lost that edge…
get with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Harley, S T F U . You’re irrelevant and so is the Power and Light race hustlers. That district is doing exactly what they need to do so it doesn’t become Westport , also what is happening at the Plaza. People don’t come out to spend their money to be exposed to a bunch of thugs who could care less what happens to them or the area they try to destroy. (Google: Indian Springs violence) Pull your pants up, no one wants to see your friggen underwear, What’s laughable about this is they don’t even realize it’s a prison gay thing either. They’re basically walking around advertising their “stuff” to other men, lolol

hey art…theres more to the story than your few ignorant
ranting words.
where are you from? Eudora.
a laswsuit brought out some huge information about employees
paying people to start fights inside the p and l.
its not about the crap you talk about…and if you were
right they’d get rid of mosaic like they got rid of the hip
hopjoints in Westport.
but you’re too bright for that you dim wit.
And rememeber sir….as a new contributor Fawcett face…
there is one fact you should know and not forget
….HARLEY IS ALWAYS RIGHT….get it ghetto breath..
and you’re wrong on kctv but don
t get meinto that story…I’d make you look like the
monkey you are!!!
thanks.
your friend
Harley

Very in-depth article about what Joel Nichols is doing today. You uncovered the “fact” from the school’s Web site that he has been teaching at JCCC for about 15 years? Wow!
Once again your unnamed sources revealed nothing on the topic.
The only thing lacking in this story was a quote from Craig Glazer on the issue. Was he busy today?
And you are correct about adjunct professors. If you are an expert in your field and have a Master’s degree or better and a college feels you would make a good instructor they might hire you. I taught at five colleges in KC. I don’t know of a school that specifically teaches gossip, but maybe you should apply and give it a shot.
Now that you have uncovered all there is to know about the Joel Nichols story please continue to “break” the ongoing jewelry store news with a few more stories on the topic. That has been absolutely riveting journalism.

wow…landsberg lands a hard right to hearnes jaw with his
commentary.
come on hearne…if you won’t take him on…go get glaze…a kc star
a camera and challenge the old landy boy to meet ya outside
Beaumont club.
dem is
fighting words in glaze’s book.
now let the copier in chief have it.
by the way landsberg…you have more old new than hearne does.
northing really new in your blog…just you hanging with a bunch
of newsies.
you can screw with Harley…but don’t f*ck with my man hearne!

Unless a full-time faculty member retired, resigned, was fired, died, etc., in the middle of a semester, colleges/universities typically do not hire faculty on for full-time gigs mid-semester. At the earliest, if hired full-time, Joel wouldn’t move into that position until the start of the summer session, and since most summer classes at JCCC are taught by adjuncts, it would probably be the fall semester before it happens, if at all.

“The term “adjunct professor” being something of a slippery slope in many instances for people in a given field who manage to convince a college to let them teach a course in their given field.”

This isn’t the case. I know quite a few university adjuncts in the business and education fields. Without exception, they are gainfully employed in their areas of expertise, bringing real-world experiences to the classroom. Most become adjuncts for the love of teaching. Like your WiseGeek citation said, colleges are depending more and more upon adjuncts. What it didn’t say was that the adjuncts often receive more favorable student reviews than full-timers.

hey john…hearnes busy covering the murder capital of the u.s…
the murder rate is skyrocketing and since hearne loves to cover dead people
after their dead he is busy put together acomplete pieceon it.
the murder capital of the u.s….not Detroit/chicaco/dc or kc…
ITS FREAKING LAWRENCE……another shooting and death….
its your favorite little town along with the tavern owner and glaze…
wtf is happening…would be interested to have deputy dawg (Wilson) dom
some
undercover investigating on this serious crime and murder spree in
larry town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oh…yes…a great place to live!!!@! hahhahahahaahha